MDH: Nursing Home Staffer Stole Patient’s Oxycodone

FOREST LAKE, Minn. (WCCO) — A nursing home staffer has been fired from a Forest Lake, Minn. facility for stealing nearly two months’ worth of oxycodone from a resident.

According to a report from the Minnesota Department of Health, the staffer worked at Birchwood Health Care Center. The report says the staff member signed out 59 oxycodone pills in all over the two-month span, but never gave them to the intended resident.

The staff member’s employment was terminated. The report says that investigation of the facility found that the staffer had also failed to renew licensure to practice nursing in Minnesota.

Neither the staffer nor the resident was identified by the health department.

The case has been referred to the county attorney’s office for possible fifth-degree possession of narcotics and theft charges.